Thank you for taking a look at GradeMaster. I hope you'll set aside some time to work through this tutorial and that you'll find this stack useful. If you do, I'd appreciate your sending in the shareware fee (more about that later).
You'll find your job easier if you print out this file now and work through the tutorial as you read it.
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GENERAL TIPS
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GradeMaster is designed to make record-keeping and reporting of grades easier for you. In addition, its reports can be used as a very effective motivational tool for your students.
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GradeMaster can handle a roster of up to 35 students with up to 26
grades each, more than enough for the standard classroom
situation. It will generate averages for each student and for each
assignment and has the capability of curving a set of scores if you
so desire. Its most important feature is the generation of detailed
individual reports (with space for individual or group comments)
for each student.
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The individual reports which GradeMaster generates include information about class averages for each assignment, allowing each student to compare his/her performance with the rest of the class. Frequent reports to students stimulate better performance, since poorer students often are not aware that they are doing poorly.
At the very least, we recommend individual reports at the end of each marking period. Such reports demonstrate to students that their grades are the product of the work they do, and not just some whim of the teacher's. They force students to see that they earn grades.
Try mid-marking period or bi-weekly individual reports and see if they stimulate better performance (Our experience is that they often yield dramatic results).
Alert parents to the availability of such reports with a friendly letter at the beginning of the term. Include a schedule of when they can expect such reports. You'll probably find that there is less wrangling about grades when you put everything up front. If your school district requires mid-period "deficiency" reports, include an individual grade update which such letters. The better everybody understands where grades come from, the better chance for improvement.
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Getting Started
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First, make sure that the HyperCard and Home stacks are available to your Mac. Then double-click on the GradeMaster icon.
The first screen you see is the title screen. You'll notice that it is marked "Not Registered." You can still complete all the activities of this tutorial and know for sure if this program is for you even before you send in the registration fee. (The only thing you can't do is print out your reports, which is, of course, a main reason for having the stack.)
Buttons at the bottom of the screen allow you to choose between going to the Help Screen menu or starting work. Let's save the help screens for later (They're always available) and get right down to work. Click the work button. You're taken to the registration screen, since you are using an unregistered copy. When you do register, I'll send you the code which will eliminate this step and making printing of reports available to you. For now, just click on the "Return to Grade Book" button.
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Making a Working Copy
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Let's begin by making a working copy of GradeMaster so that you can keep the original in its pristine state. At the right of the screen you'll see four buttons; the bottom on is called "Save & Clear." It's there so you can start over again at the end of each marking period, or so that you can make several copies of GradeMaster--one for each class you teach. (At the end of the marking period, you can choose to keep the student names in your new file if you like.)
Suppose we're going to prepare an electronic gradebook for an American Literature course we teach fourth period each day. We'll call it "AmLit4." (Don't type the quotes or the period.)
1. Click on the "Clear & Save" button.
2. A dialog window appears, asking "Save current data under new
name?" Respond by clicking on "Yes" or just pressing [RETURN].
3. Now you are asked "What should this file be named?" Type in
"AmLit4" and press [RETURN]. The new file is actually called
"GM.AmLit4," and it will appear in the same folder as the
original GradeMaster you started out with.
4. In our current situation, the next question may seem a little
strange, but bear with us. Now you are asked, "What data do
you wish to clear?" It's true; we don't really have any data to
clear right now, but click on the button marked "ALL DATA."
This is the one you'd use to start a new class. If you wanted to
start a new marking period for the old class, you'd use "Keep
Names," and you wouldn't have to type the roster over again for
the new stack.
5. Now we're going to quit GradeMaster (so that we can begin
working with the "GM.AmLit4" stack). At the left of the
screen, in a rectangular shadowed box is the "Quit" button.
Always use this button to leave a GradeMaster stack. You'll
briefly see a spinning beach ball, which tells you that the
stack is automatically compacting itself to save disk space.
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Preparing a Heading
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1. Double-click on the "GM.AmLit4" icon. When the stack comes
up, click on the "Begin Work" button and then the "Return to
Grade Book" button.
2. In the center top of the gradebook screen is a large rectangular
white space. Click at the top of it, and a cursor will appear,
so that you can enter the information about your class which
will appear on all the reports that the stack generates.
3. Make up your own information, or enter the following:
Acme Heights High School
American Literature
Period Four
First Marking Period
Mr. Jones
4. You'll notice that this information is centered for you. (You'll
later see that it automatically appears on student reports,
too.)
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Looking at Other Pages
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Before we start to enter data, let's look around the gradebook section of the stack first.
Have you been wondering where GradeMaster puts the 35 names for a large class? Well, the page is much larger than it looks. An arrow button at the right points down to reveal more of the page.
How can you enter 26 grades for a student? The right arrow button on the gradebook gives a hint.
1. Click on the down-arrow button at the right of the screen. The
page moves up automatically. (To return to the top of the
page, you'd click the top-arrow button, but don't do it now.)
2. Click the down-arrow button again. Now you're looking at
the bottom of the first gradebook page, and you'll see the
divider line that separates grades from assignment
averages.
3. Now click the top-arrow button to return to the top of the
page.
4. Next click the right-arrow button, just under the "Save &
Clear" button you used before. It moves you to page 2 of
the gradebook. You'll notice that your heading and the date
are already there for your use. (When you've typed in a roster,
it will also be automatically copied to the other pages.)
5. Take a couple of minutes to move around the gradebook, using
the arrow buttons until you feel comfortable. Return to the
top of the first page before continuing with this tutorial.
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Entering the Roster
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Make sure you are on the first page of the gradebook before entering the roster (look to the left of your heading).
1. GradeMaster is set up to look like your physical gradebook.
Click the down-arrow button once before continuing. This is
always a good idea before starting to record data because it
gives you the maximum number of lines to work with.
The lined area at the left is where you will record the names
of your students. Click on the top line of that area.
2. GradeMaster permits you to have up to 35 students in a class.
(If you have more than that, chances are even your physical
gradebook can't handle it, and maybe even an administrator
couldn't, either.) We're going to make life easy for now and
imagine a class of just 10 students.
3. Enter the names now. Press [RETURN] after each name. Here
are some sample names to use:
Kent Atwater
Edgar Daniels
Dan Edgarton
Elmer Ellsworth
Edna Kellington
Maxine Kersey
Peter Patterson
Pat Peterson
Brendalee Smith
Linda White
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Entering Grades
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1. Now click in the small white unlined rectangle at the top of
the first column. Here we'll enter the abbreviated name of
an assignment and the weight which we want it to count.
You can devise whatever system you like for abbreviating
assignment names, but the one which follows works well.
2. The first assignment we're going to use is a pop quiz, and
we'll type "Q9/7" in that first rectangle. (In the system we're
using, "Q" can mean either "pop quiz" or "announced quiz,"
and, of course, "9/7" means the date of the quiz.)
3. With the cursor still in the same rectangle, press [RETURN]
and then type a "2." The "2" represents a relative weight
for the assignment. (We use a system like this: a test
"weighs" 8; an announced quiz, 4; a pop quiz, 2; homework, 1;
and so forth -- feel free to devise your own system, but be
sure to enter a number for the weight, even if you use all 1's.
4. Now click in the first line of the first column for grades and
enter these grades for our students (Use [RETURN] between
each of the grades; [enter] doesn't work): 95, 97, 89, 100, 100,
